Is Jesus the Messiah?

Genesis 49:10 is universally considered a messianic passage. Targum Onkelos circa 135AD which was preserved by the Pharisees contains the following: “…Kings shall not cease, nor rulers, from the house of Judah, nor sapherim teaching the law from his seed, till the time that the King, the Messiah, shall come, the youngest of his sons; and on account of him shall the peoples flow together. How beautiful is the King, the Messiah who will arise from the house of Judah: He has girded his loins, and descended, and arrayed the battle against his adversaries, slaying kings with their rulers; neither is there any king or ruler who shall stand before him. The mountains become red with the blood of their slain; his garments, dipped in blood, are like the pressed juice of grapes. How beautiful are the eyes of the king Messiah, as the pure wine…”

Genesis 49:10 "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be."

After Herod the Great became the king of Israel the land of Israel was ruled by non-Jews. The last Jew of the Davidic dynasty who was acclaimed as the king of the Jews was Jesus when he was crucified. Genesis 49:10 indicates that there would be an uninterrupted line of rulers over the tribe of Judah all the way up to the advent of the Messiah. Jewish dynasties ended when Herod the Great who was a non-Jew ascended to the throne of Judea. As we all know, Jesus arrived at that time. So, according to the prophecy - Jesus, the Messiah, arrived exactly on time.

It is not possible for someone born now or in the future to fulfill the messianic prophecy in Genesis 49:10 - since the time period for that prophecy undeniably expired. This leaves the inescapable conclusion based on the messianic prophecy in Genesis 49:10 – Jesus is the only person who can be the Messiah!

From the book "Finding Jesus in the Old Testament"